Avatar: Different Destiny
by Zutarafan16
Summary: This starts at the beginning of the whole series. Yes, Zuko has his scar and he is chasing the Avatar. Yes Aang was trapped in the iceberg for one hundred years. But lots of other things have changed. This is my version of what could've happened in Avatar
1. I get woken up and I wont get to sleep

Chapter One: I'll be woken up, and I won't be able to go to sleep.

Katara opened her eyes. Was it morning already? No, it was pitch black. She could hardly see a thing. She wondered what woke her up until she heard the hissing whisper of her name in her brothers voice. Se looked to the tent opening and saw Sokka's head peeking in. "What?" She hissed back, sitting up.

"Get dressed ! I need your help!"

He closed the tent flap, and Katara huffed around the small one person tent getting dressed. She walked out and Sokka motioned to her to walk with him. Their small village was quiet , and the only movement was the two walking teenage siblings. As they exited the main village, they talked in regular voices.

"What are you dragging me out here to do?" the fourteen year old water bender asked, annoyed by being pulled out of bed and happy dreams, at three o'clock in the morning. "Well," Sokka began rubbing his neck, embarrassed. "Today's _somebody's _birthday and I need your help to make a present."

Katara sighed "Let me guess, it's Joan's birthday, isn't it? And what, you want me to bend her a heart out of ice?"

Sokka looked at her pleadingly. "Could you?"

"I suppose…" and they went to go find some ice.

Zuko paced his room back and forth, quickly and uncontroably. He couldn't sleep. He had a strange feeling something was going to happen. But was it good or bad? He couldn't tell. "Sh--." he sweared under his breath. He couldn't take this. He was so tired, but he couldn't make himself lie down. He was the only one awake on the whole ship! Well he couldn't say that. The ship was still moving so whoever was driving was awake. They were headed to land. The exiled Prince walked out onto the deck. He was getting sea sick being cooped up in his room. He looked a head and saw the land growing larger as they approached it. Zuko hoped that this place had a market to buy supplies. And a map, since they lost theirs. They had no idea what and where this place was.

The Water Tribe siblings found a large hunk of ice sticking out of the water. They figured it was only the top of a hug ice berg. But Katara was going to use this one anyway. She slipped off her gloves and shoved them in her pocket. The bitter cold jumped onto her bare skin. She placed her fingers onto the ice and a tingling feeling ran through her body. Concentrating hard, she moved her fingers around in an outline of a heart bigger than her head. She had only made a small indent, not nearly enough. She kept on doing this same process over and over, getting a little deeper each time. Sokka was leaning over her shoulder, counting down the minutes until she was done. Sometimes, no actually almost all of the time, Katara wished there was someone to teach her how to become a master water bender. Her and her dad, Hagoda were the only water benders in the whole South pole. But he died way before they even knew _Katara_ was a water bender.

The shore was a few minutes away. It was still to dark out to see what was on land, but it was there. Zuko went up to the top to find Jee steering the ship.

" I want everyone awake." Zuko said as he walked in.

" But, sir-" Jee started, but he was cut off by Zuko.

"Now!"

Jee ran and Zuko took over the steering. In a matter of minutes the whole ship was awake and working. Zuko was still steering while Jee looked into a telescope.

" I don't see any docks, Zuko." They switched jobs. Zuko searched the whole perimeter. Nothing.

"We'll just have to land on shore."

And they kept sailing straight, until they lost control and were headed straight into tops of icebergs.


	2. The Crash

**A/N: Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed my first chapter. This is my first 'fic ever, so please review. Constructive criticism is welcome. Just please no flames. I forgot to put an Authors Note on the first chapter so sorry. I know the first chapter was a bit confusing, maybe because it switched POVs without warning. Sorry about that. I tried putting extra spacing in this chapter between the POVs so it's easier to know when its switching. Well here's the second chapter: **

Chapter 2: The Crash

Katara was almost finished. She had cut in about two inches. She was just about to slice it out when Sokka stammered

"K-K- Katara! What is that?!"

He pointed ahead of the iceberg tops. As soon as the fourteen year old girl turned her head, she saw it. A big, black, Fire Nation ship, coming straight towards them. But luckily it didn't reach shore. It smashed right into all of the ice berg tops. The banging against the icebergs and the power of the waves were too much for the ship. Katara and Sokka heard shouting. A voice of a young man stood out loudest amongst it all. He seemed to be the leader by what they heard. The ship couldn't take any more. It started to flip over. The siblings clung to each other in fright as the ship fell on it's side, spilling it's contents. After a while, around ten men came swimming to shore. The rest were never to be seen again. They sat on the shore catching their breath and watched the remains of the ship and who was on it sink to the bottom.

"We need to find a town." One of them said standing up. Katara and Sokka recognized it as the young mans voice who the heard yelling , who was in charge. He reached out a hand to the old man sitting on the ground next to him.

"Uncle, are you alright?" He asked, helping the old man up.

"Yes, but are you alright?" His uncle asked in return. The teenager nodded and the rest stood up.

"This will be something we won't ever forget. So, before we find a town we must take a moment to pray." They all nodded and prayed silently. It was getting lighter out and they all were able to see better. The Fire Nation men turned around and Katara saw what the young man looked like for the first time. He was tall and skinny not buff, but muscular. He had long black hair pulled into a ponytail. His eyes were golden, but around the left one, and his left ear was a big red scar. And those, orb-like, golden eyes were staring right at her.

Zuko tuned around and automatically, his eyes fell on a girl crouching in the snow. He couldn't tell what her hold body looked like but he saw her face. Her hair was brown, long and beautiful. It was wrapped in a bun, then fell into a braid. In the front her hair was in two loops that circled her face and connected to the bun in back. Her eyes were two great pools of ocean-like blue and twinkled in the dim rising sun. But fear was written all over that face. Fear of him? It must be. And then Zuko saw the young man next to her. His arms were wrapped tightly, protected, around her, and she was clinging on to his shirt. Thin the guy stood up, pulling the girl with him. His hands let go of her and he pulled out a weapon.

"What are you doing here, you Fire Nation scum?"

How dare that little peasant, Zuko thought to himself. He really didn't know if the young man was a peasant or not. Zuko opened his mouth to say something but Iroh put an arm out in front of him to stop him, and Iroh answered instead.

" I am so sorry." He began "We lost control of our ship, as you probably saw, and we have no other way of leaving."

He finished with a small smile. This time the girl spoke.

"I'm sorry but we have no ships available." Zuko noticed how she squished all the fear away when she spoke. Now it was the guy's turn.

"And even if we did we'd never give them to you. And you probably wouldn't even know how to work it anyway since it's made by the Water Tribe! We don't care what happens to you just stay away from the main village!" He pointed in the direction of it. The girl elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow!" He rubbed his side looking at her "What?" he whispered.

"Sokka, you had to go and point?" she whispered back, unaware that Zuko was hearing everything.

"Oh… Well now they know which way not to go." The girl smacked her head at the boys answer in annoyance.

"Now they'll know which way _to_ go, you think they're ganna listen to you?"

Iroh started to talk, also hearing what they were whispering.

"We won't go to the main village if you don't wan us to." He said. "I guess we'll just have to live out here until we die."

Katara couldn't stop herself. "Well maybe we could bring you some food and supplies, or you could come to the main village when you need it."

Sokka looked at her outrageously.

"Katara! Are you mad?! We don't want them to live, they're Fire Nation!" Sokka yelled. Katara was just about to retort back when a voice not spoken before said;

"Instead of all this arguing, how about I just _give_ you all a _ride_ back to the Fire Nation."

**Well that was the second chapter. Hope you all enjoy it. Please review. I will greatly appreciate it. Oh, and by the way Zuko's hair includes no baldness. It is just a regular ponytail. Like his hair is in The Storm or Zuko alone, in the flashbacks. **

**Thanks for reading. XD!**


	3. Aang

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed my first two chapters. You probably already guessed who the voice was so… Well I hope this title won't give it away before you read if you didn't.**

Chapter 3: Aang

Everybody turned to the direction where the voice came from. A young boy around the age of twelve was sitting with his legs crossed on top of the iceberg that Katara and Sokka were at before carving the heart. Except now it was completely out of the water and cracked open. The boy had a grin on his face with happy grey eyes. He was bald and instead of hair there was a blue arrow tattooed on his head.

Sokka held out his spear towards the boy and yelled "You're another Fire Nation? Good, then get out of here and take them with you!"

The boy laughed and jumped off the iceberg. "I'm not Fire Nation, but I'll give them a ride to the Fire Nation." He turned to the Fire Nation men. "You guys won't mind flying would you?"

The men looked dumbstruck. Katara didn't blame them. The boy just said _flying_!

The young Fire Nation man spoke to the boy in out rage "_Flying_!? What are you talking about? And who are you any way?"

The boy looked at them all and answered. "I'm Aang. And what I mean by flying is on my flying bison Appa."

The Fire Nation Uncle replied "Ahh, you must be an air bender. Where did you come from?"

The boy named Aang answered " I sure am. I originally cam from the Southern Air Temple. But right now I was just trapped in that iceberg. Something broke it open and here I am."

Katara knew it must have been the ship that broke it open. Everyone was too busy to notice. But how could you survive being inside an iceberg? The old man asked the question for her.

Aang answered "I don't know, but I did and so did Appa. He's sitting in the middle there right now."

The youngest Fire Nation man spoke " How long were you in there?"

"I don't know, a few days maybe."

Sokka and Katara stood aside listening.

The scarred-man answered back " A few days? There are still air benders out there? I thought they were all extinct years ago."

That's what Katara and Sokka were taught growing up. Air benders were supposedly long gone.

"Extinct?" The young air bender looked scared "O-Of course not. Anyway what are your names?"

" Oh how rude of us! I'm so sorry my name is Iroh. This is my nephew, Zuko. And this is who is left of our crew. Jee, … etc."

"It's nice to meet you all." Aang said .

The old man Iroh smiled politely. But his nephew Zuko wanted more information by the looks of it. He had his arms folded across his chest while he scowled at his uncle and Aang, talking. Aang then turned to Katara and Sokka.

" So you guys are from the Water Tribe then?" He asked.

They both nodded. "What are your names then?"

---

Hah! This was it! Zuko was finally going to learn her name. More importantly, this boy might know the Avatar. If they stayed on friendly terms with this boy, he might just take them to the Avatar. And Zuko would have a chance to restore his honor.

The girl spoke first. "I'm Katara."

Then the guy. "Sokka."

The boy named Aang said "It's nice to meet you guys."

"

You too." Katara (Zuko loved that name.) answered for both her and the peasant named Sokka.

Iroh offered words to the young sir bender. "That is so kind of you, Aang. We would love to accept your offer but there is a slight problem."

Zuko knew what his uncle was going to say. He didn't know why he didn't think of this before, but right now it seemed pretty obvious.

His uncle continued "You see, around two years ago, Zuko here, was banished from the Fire Nation. The rest of us can go back, but he can't."

Zuko felt himself go rid in the face of embarrassment.

The boy Aang agreed. "That is a problem."

"Well, maybe…" Katara started but she was cut off.

"Katara!" Sokka warned "Don't even."

Zuko wondered what he meant.

---

Katara glared at her brother and decided to ignore his warning.

She went on "Maybe all of you," she pointed at Iroh and the rest of the crew, "could go with Aang, and you," she pointed at the young man Zuko " could stay here. Undercover that is, so no one will know you are Fire Nation."

---

That sounded like a good plan to Aang. He liked this girl, Katara. But he couldn't understand why all of them were being such racists. It seemed like him and Iroh were the only ones that it didn't matter to. It seemed like it really mattered to the guy Sokka. 'Fire Nation scum' did he call them? Aang had no idea why. But they didn't seem to take much notice in it. Aang looked at the Fire Nation men. He figured Appa would manage. Maybe he could make a short visit to see Kuzon while he was there, too.

**Well what did you guys think? This one was a bit longer than the first and second chapters. There is a lot of dialog in this chapter. Sorry about when Iroh is like asking Aang if he is an air bender and the things he was saying because that sounded kind of weird or something. I don't know, it didn't sound right to me but I couldn't figure out how to fix it. Reviews are appreciated. **

**Thanks requim17, you are my only reviewer so far.**


	4. The Gatering

**A/N: This one is quite short. Shorter than the other ones that is. Then I think the one after that is even shorter, but chapter six which is two chapters away will definitely be way longer. Shadowhand Zealot, I am going to try to make them all longer like the sixth one will be. Well here's the fourth chapter.**

Chapter 4: The Gathering

Zuko was surprised by Katara's offer. The guy Sokka seemed dumbstruck. Iroh was surprised too, but he replied all the same.

"That is very generous of you. But we wouldn't want to give you a burden."

Katara replied quickly "Really, it's all right. One of you is less than all of you."

Aang the air bender threw his arms up in exasperation. "It's settled then. I'll bring the nine of you to the Fire Nation, while you can stay here. You guys can get a ship come back pick him up and everyone's happy. It shouldn't take that long to get to the Fire Nation on Appa. Maybe your ride back on you ship will take a little longer but you all should manage."

Before anyone could protest , after taking it all in, Katara spoke up. "You guys will need food and supplies, I'll go get some."

And she ran off , Zuko finding himself speechless, leaving everyone speechless too, they watched her shrinking figure.

---

Katara reached the main village quite quickly. Nobody was up to there tasks yet, that Katara knew of. She was going to get them a spare map, and a small supply of food. Aang had said it wouldn't be too long of a way. Or a flight, as he said. Katara knew everyone was surprised at her offer of Zuko staying here. She even surprised herself. But she liked the idea. It seemed like a challenge. Or even an adventure.

She found herself at the flap of the storage tent. She opened it up to be greeted by the friendly face of her mother.

"Mom!" She exclaimed.

"Katara, you're up early." Her mother noted, turning around to face her daughter.

"Uhhh… yeah," Katara started.

Her mother went on, "What are you doing in the storage tent?"

Katara blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "Well, what are _you_ doing in the storage tent?"

Her mother gave her a funny look, lifting one eyebrow in a suspicious way. "Starting breakfast." Then she looked Katara straight in the eye and placed her hands on her hips. "What's going on?" she demanded from her daughter, still with that one eyebrow disappearing in her hair line.

Katara couldn't take the pressure. Her mother always had that power to know when Katara was up to something. Katara couldn't tell her the truth, so instead of saying nothing was going on, which her mother would never believe she pretended to spill the beans.

"Well, it's like this," she began and her mother listened intently. "Sokka wanted me to water bend Joan a heart, so…" and she told the whole story, except she changed one thing. It wasn't Fire Nation it was Earth Kingdom. Her mothers expressions changed throughout the whole story, but at long last, she believed it.

"Well, she said when Katara was finished, "Why don't I help you get them some supplies."

Gladly, Katara excepted. Once Katara was loaded with an armful of things she left the tent, her mother following from behind.

"You don't have to come with me, Mom." Katara said. "But you can go fetch me some of Sokka's clothes for Zuko to wear."

"He's naked?!?" Her mother exclaimed, astonished, before Katara had time to explain.

The water bender let out a soft giggle. "No Mom, but Earth Kingdom clothing aren't that warm."

Her mother nodded and went into Sokka's tent. She came back moments later with a warm coat and a pair of warm pants. She folded them on top of the rest of Katara's pile in her arms, and the girl headed off.

**See, I told you it was short. And about 'Joan', before I get any questions on her, she is my OOC. There will be more about her in future chapters. **

**Thanks to all my reviewers so far. More reviews will be appreciated, from anyone. **


	5. The Leaving

**Authors Note: okay I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a long time. I sort of had a writers block, and when that went away and I started writing again, I just didn't have enough time to get on the computer, with the end of basketball season, and mastery test coming up and then happening. And then my dad goes and grounds me from the computer, and blah, blah, blah, and I am now just rambling. Sorry.**

**Anyway, this chapter is another short one. But I promise the next one will be _very_ long. And Zuko's good old attitude will be back. Just not really in this chapter. Well here it is chapter five.**

Chapter Five: The Leaving

When she returned there was barely a small chatter amongst the men there.

Once he saw her, Aang walked over to her "Thank you, Katara. It will be greatly appreciated."

She smiled at the boy as he took the items out of her arms.

"We best be getting a head start leaving." He continued "I'll get Appa." He handed the items off to Iroh. Aang climbed to the top of the iceberg he came from, then slid down to the middle. Moments later creeping tiredly out of the ice berg came a gigantic bison with an identical arrow on his head like Aang, except it was brown instead of blue. Everyone's mouth dropped as it emerged, then settled itself on the ground; This was Appa.

Aang was sitting proudly on his back where there was a saddle. Aang lightly jumped off and beckoned the leaving men over. Slowly, cautiously, the followed. Aang took the items form Iroh and helped him up. One by one they sat atop.

Once they were all over, Aang led Appa over to the three remaining. They looked up at them, and said their farewells.

Aang shouted, taking Appa's reins "Yip, Yip!"

Appa jumped into the air and gracefully soared into the clouds, heading south. How long will it be to see them again?

- - -

Zuko watched the bison fly away taking his uncle and crew. He turned and looked at the two standing feet from him. Katara felt his gave and looked back at him. Neither of them spoke, but the silence was broken by Sokka.

"Now what?" he said, exasperated.

Zuko wondered the same thing. What would happen now? Will they tell their village the truth? Will they accept him? Zuko doubted that. What Water Tribe village would accept a Fire Nation fugitive to stay at their village? Katara answered the question for him. But she was talking to Sokka.

"I already told Mom, Sokka." _She said 'Mom' as if they shared a mom. That means they are brother and sister, right? _Zuko thought nonchalantly. He got back on task. _What did Katara tell her mom? _

"I told her everything that happened. But I changed one part." She turned and looked at Zuko. "You're now and Earth Kingdom refugee."

**Okay, well that is the end of chapter five. I hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter is chapter six. It will be coming soon. **

**I am hoping for reviews, please. I want to get better so please tell me what you think! Thanks.**


	6. The New Coming Part 1 Time for a Change

**A/N: Here is the sixth chapter of the story. If you don't remember what happened before since it's been awhile since I posted the last chapter. You can always reread! **

Avatar: Different Destiny

Chapter 6: The New Coming 

Part 1: Time for a Change

Zuko felt his eyes go wide "A refugee? I go from a banished prince to a refugee. Great."

"A banished _prince, _did you say?" Sokka looked at him with disbelief.

"You're a prince?" Katara raised one eyebrow "The Fire Lord banished you, and you are his son?"

Zuko looked away "Never mind, I don't want to talk about it." he snapped at them. Trying to change the subject he said " Uhhh… what are those for?" He pointed at the clothes in Katara's arms.

She held them out to him "There yours." He took them reluctantly. He didn't have to ask what she meant. It made perfect sense. He couldn't wear Fire Nation clothes in the Water Tribe village.

"You can't change in the village, so you'll have to change in the woods." Katara added almost shyly. "And we'll have to do something about you're hair, no Earth Kingdom refugee has hair like yours."

Zuko sighed and walked over to the woods too embarrassed to look back at them. Once hidden by the bushes, he felt safe and comfortable as he stripped down to undergarments. The cool, icy air stung his already wet skin from the frozen water. He hurried to cover himself with the dry warm clothes. After he changed he didn't know what to do with his old clothes. Figuring he'll need them some distant time in the future he folded them the best he could, and tucked them under his arm.

Zuko maneuvered through the branches and trees feeling heavier than before. The massive coat and thick pants weren't exactly what you'd call light. He stumbled out into the open, almost falling flat on his face but he caught his balance just in time. He felt his cheeks grow slightly red as the Water Tribe siblings watched him. No one said anything, and Zuko nervously scratched the back of his head.

- - -

Sokka cleared his throat. It was actually a laugh. He came so close to bursting out laughing, but caught himself at the last second and turned it into clearing his throat. He couldn't help himself. The guy looked so funny and uncomfortable in Sokka's old clothes. (They weren't really old, they just weren't his any more.) Usually Sokka would have let the laugh come. But this guy was Fire Nation and Sokka didn't know what kind of maniacal power he could release upon them. Plus, Sokka knew Katara would go all crazy on him and scream at him things like "how could you be so insensitive?" or "how would you like it if we all laughed at you when you were in his situation?" Sokka knew he'd never be in that situation so he didn't care. But he didn't feel like hearing his sisters annoying complaints about how Sokka acted.

But Sokka knew this one thing: This guy, _Zuko. _He couldn't be trusted. He was Fire Nation. No matter what he said, or no matter what _Katara _thought, he couldn't be trusted. And Sokka knew what Katara was thinking: "_You should always give everyone a chance. We should give Zuko a chance too, even though he _is_ Fire Nation._" She was so naïve sometimes.

- - -

Katara glared at Sokka angrily. She knew that clear of his throat wasn't real. Then she looked back at Zuko and smiled reassuringly. "Great." she said. "You'll fit in perfectly. Now, about you're hair…" She pondered for a moment, then came up with an idea. "Your ponytail will have to go. We'll cut your hair short but not too short. Long enough to make it look normal."

Neither of the guys said anything. They looked at her waiting for her to continue.

"Anyone have a knife?" She got a reaction to this. Zuko reached into the pocket of his old pants. He pulled out a cased pearl dagger. He took off the case and handed it to Katara. Katara looked at it. It seemed sharp enough to chop hair. There was an inscription on the blade: Made in Earth Kingdom. She turned it over. There was another inscription: Never give up with out a fight.

"Well, you won't have to hide this, since its made from the Earth Kingdom. How did you get it?"

She looked up at Zuko. He smiled slightly for a moment, the first time they've seen him smile. It didn't last long. He looked down, avoiding there gaze and mumbled something that sounded like "My Uncle."

Katara didn't press the matter. Obviously he didn't want to say how his uncle got it. An awkward pause later, Katara shyly said "Well, you'll need to bend down, or sit or something. You're too tall for me to reach when your standing. And Sokka can't do it, because he'll leave you a bald spot in the back and probably on purpose." She added the last sentence unnecessarily, for Zuko had already sat down on a nearby, large rock. Katara walked over to stand behind him, Sokka following.

"Are you ready?" she asked. He slowly nodded. Katara engulfed half of his ponytail in her left fist. A spring of heat and electricity ran through her that was unlike anything she ever felt before. She almost let go and jumped backward, but stopped herself just in time. She got a better grip, and slowly raised the dagger to the base of his ponytail. She pressed down, and the dagger sliced through. The sharp crunchy sound of hair chopping was heard.

- - -

The Prince visibly flinched, as he heard the sound and his head got unmistakably lighter. He wished he could of done it himself. Why did the water girl have to cut his hair? He would have been capable of doing it just as easily.

- - -

Katara grasped the ponytail in one hand and held the dagger in the other. He looked down at the Princes head, and what was left of his hair. The red band was still there, holding together a short stub. Strands started falling out, to hang around his face. He reached up and yanked off the red band. His hair fell limply on his head. He stood up to face them. He definitely wasn't smiling. He had a scowl on his face. Katara felt scared at first but then smiled sheepishly.

"I think… it's maybe… er… too long." He glared at her from under his shield of hair. It hung to his chin, if not a little past. He held out his hand gesturing towards the dagger. Katara placed it in his hand. He then started slicing at random parts. Hair fell to the ground, floating like a feather. After a couple minutes he stopped. But he didn't put the dagger away, he just looked at Katara expectantly. _Was he waiting for my approval? _Katara thought to herself.

"Erm, it's good…" She said lamely. She mentally punched herself.

- - -

Zuko mentally rolled his eyes and sighed as he pocketed the Pearl Dagger. He looked over at the wench, and noticed that she still held his ponytail. She seemed to notice what the was looking at, because he blushed and dropped it

"… because Mom and Gran-Gran will be waiting for us, actually so will the whole village, I bet Mom told everyone already." The peasant boy had started talking but Zuko didn't notice until the two water peasants started walking away. He followed reluctantly, a few steps behind them. No one spoke, but Sokka grumbled under his breath about wanting breakfast.

**A/N: Ok, what did you think? It was long wasn't it? Well at least longer than the other chapters. This chapter would have been longer but I split it into two parts. As you can see this is part one a time for change. **

**Next chapter which is part two, might be up sometime nest week since I already have it written, but I just need to find time to type it.**

**Thanks for reading! Please review! I am looking to get better in any way possible!**


	7. The Newcoming Part 2: Meet the Village

**A/N: Here's chapter 7. I would have had it up like, waaaaaaayyy sooner, but for some reason the sight said there was an error, and it told me to try again later, and I tried every hour, but finally it works now! I forgot to mention this last chapter, but I know there are no trees or bushes in the South pole, but Zuko needed something to get dressed behind, so please, deal with me here. Anyway, enjoy.**

Avatar: Different Destiny

Chapter Seven: The New Coming 

Part Two: Meet the Village

After what seemed an eternity, they reached the out skirts of the main village. As they were about to walk into the center among the tents, something splashed on the ground in front of them just barely splattering their feet. They backed away in surprise, then inched closer to examine it. It was fairly disgusting to look at, and Katara's stomach went queasy at the smell. They decided to side step it and walk around, and not bother to find out what it was.

Finally they came tot the center of the village. Everyone was bustling around, but at sight of the three teens, a hush fell. They cautiously moved to form a group, mothers holding on to their children.

" Hem, hem." Katara cleared her throat, stepping forward. "Erm… Mom, Gran-Gran, … Whole village, er, I'd like you to meet," she bit her lip and stepped aside "…Zuko." She gestured toward him with her hands.

He looked up at them but didn't say anything. Katara heard the gasps of the village and the surprised mutters. She knew they would come. He probably knew they would come, too. By the look on his face, he definitely expected it. Everywhere he went, people probably whispered behind hands about his scar.

Katara looked to Sokka to help her out, but he just stood there with his arms folded across his chest and a smug smirk playing across his face.

Katara went on in a rush " And, er, Zuko this is the whole village."

Zuko took no notice that she had even said anything.

"Okay," Katara began again, talking to the village. " I assume my mother has already told you all who Zuko is and how he came to be here, so I'll just go show him where he'll be staying." She smiled nervously, and started to lead the way.

"Not so fast." She turned around. Zuko had started following her, but someone had placed a hand on his shoulder. It was her grandmother. Her grandmother looked small and fragile, but that shouldn't fool anyone because she was actually fierce and strict, but Katara loved her all the same. Zuko turned around to face the old women. She took her hand off him and poked him in the chest.

"Now you listen here boy, and you listen good. You may come from some fancy-dansy Earth Kingdom town, with fancy-dansy customs, or whatever, but as long as you stay here you are to follow all our customs, and rules, and you will go by the way we live and there will be no complaining. As long as we give you food and shelter, you will also have to carry your own weigh. Which means you will have chores to do, just like everyone else."

Though, taller and much bigger Zuko was, he seemed to crumble under the presence of Katara's grandmother.

"Got me?" Her eyes widened, and her eyebrows disappeared in her hair line. Zuko nodded slowly.

Suddenly, and unexpected, she wrapped her arms around Zuko's shoulders and pulled him into a tight grandmother, bear hug. Zuko looked taken aback, then stiffened under her embrace, clearly not familiar with physical affection.

The old women pulled back and padded Zuko's shoulder while saying " You are welcome here boy." Then her gaze wavered slightly, and drifted up to his scar, and she continued. "Don't worry, one day the Fire Nation will be defeated. They weren't always bad… It's the Royal Family that started this wretched war, and it's their fault that it's still not over with. But we haven't given up hope. We haven't given up hope that the Avatar will return and defeat the Fire Lord, and the rest of the power hungry Royal Family, once and for all."

She smiled grimly, the wrinkles under her eyes creasing into her cheeks. Something dangerous flashed across Zuko's features.

_Oh-no, _Katara thought _this is going to be over before it's even started._ Her grandmother had obviously just insulted Zuko with out meaning to.

- - -

Zuko took a deep claming breath. _How dare that old wench be so disrespectful? _Zuko thought. He felt like going off the top, by what he just heard. _Yet she had no idea. _Said a compromising voice in the back of his mind. _Come now, _it continued _are you really going to blow this and have to live among the ice with no food, water, shelter, no nothing? And knowing your uncle, he'd take weeks, maybe months to get back. _Zuko thought about this, though he already knew the answer. He decided on the latter and answered in a strained calm voice.

"Oh, I haven't given up either. Everyone hopes the Avatar will return… especially me."

The old wench smiled at him and he turned to the young wench to find out where he would be staying.

**A/N: Oh wow, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I wanted to put a lot of Gran-Gran in this because I don't think she has nearly enough love in the Fan fiction world. XD. Okay really I just thought I'd get an idea of what her personality would be like, but I think she came out sounding like a drill sergeant. I wasn't going to add the part where she hugged Zuko, but I needed to show her soft side, and test Zuko's temper. **

**Now this part is off topic, but I seriously think that I have been reading to much Harry Potter (I have been rereading all the books in preparation for the 7th book). While I was writing this I kept on adding in little details or descriptions that sound familiar, and they just pop into my head, then I read what I wrote and I'm like 'I got that from Harry Potter' or then at the part where Gran-Gran hugs Zuko then gives her kind speech when she looks at his scar, I was thinking, 'oh where have I heard that before, I feel like I am writing HP fan fiction. Ok yeah, I just wanted to share that little bit with you guys.**

**Please Review!**

**Next chapter, in comes Aang and Iroh!**


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